Senate votes to overturn OSHA rule

United States President Joe Biden speaks at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, DC, USA on Wednesday, November 3, 2021.

Al Drago | Bloomberg | Getty Images

The Senate on Wednesday voted to block President Joe Biden’s vaccination mandate for private employers

The measure goes to the House held by the Democrats. It faces a more difficult route to passage in the House of Representatives, and the Biden administration has threatened a veto if it reaches the president’s desk.

Since the mandate has a slim chance of becoming law, the measure to repeal it will have little practical effect. A federal court has already stopped the government’s Covid vaccination and testing requirements for private companies with 100 or more employees.

Nonetheless, the vote underscores the opposition to the Biden policy even among Democrats who represent red states. It reflects the White House’s fight to increase U.S. vaccinations and booster shots as the heavily mutated variant of Omicron – which has the potential to bypass the protection offered by a two-dose vaccination – gain a foothold across the country begins.

The Senate approved the measure with 52 to 48 votes. Sens. Joe Manchin, DW.V., and Jon Tester, D-Mont. supported them together with all Republicans. It only took a simple majority to pass the Congressional Review Act, a process that allows Congress to repeal rules from federal agencies.

Republicans who instituted the mandate waiver plan argued that it would hurt small businesses as they try to manage the pandemic.

“That’s the heavy hand of the government, that’s exaggeration,” said Senator Mike Braun, R-Ind., On Wednesday.

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Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer condemned the plan on Wednesday. He said blocking the mandate would hurt U.S. efforts to contain the pandemic as a potentially more infectious variant wins.

“The worst thing we can do is tie our own hands behind our backs and let these new varieties spread and grow and new ones after Omicron and so many others. But that is exactly what the Republicans urged anti-vaccines would do, ”he said.

The vast majority of House Democrats will oppose the move and there may not be a vote. Nevertheless, in the event of a vote, only four Democrats would have to defeat the House of Representatives to get through both chambers.

The White House’s Bureau of Management and Budget said Tuesday that it would strongly encourage Biden to veto the Senate bill if it were passed.

“At a time when COVID is on the rise, a new variant is circulating and more and more Americans are choosing to vaccinate, it makes no sense for Congress to undo this much-needed protection of our workforce,” said OMB in a statement.

The U.S. 5th District Court of Appeals last month forced the Biden government to stop implementing and enforcing its vaccination and testing requirements. Judge Kurt D. Engelhardt said in a report for a three-judge panel that the Biden policy was “fatally flawed” and “raised serious constitutional concerns”.

The policy required companies with 100 or more employees to ensure that their employees are vaccinated or have a negative Covid test weekly by January 4 to enter the workplace. Unvaccinated workers should wear face masks indoors from December 5th.

More than two dozen lawsuits have been filed in federal courts across the country challenging the requirements. Republican attorneys general, private companies, and national industry groups like the National Retail Federation, American Trucking Associations, and the National Federation of Independent Business want the requirements lifted. Unions have sued to extend the directive to smaller companies and protect more workers.

The Justice Department last month called for a cross-district court case to randomly consolidate the litigation in a single court. The consolidated case has been referred to the Ohio District Court of Appeals for the Sixth District, which has a Republican-appointed majority.

The Biden government urged the Sixth District to reintroduce vaccination and testing requirements, warning that delaying the policy would cost lives and increase hospital admissions. The Ministry of Justice submitted the application on November 23, just a few days before the heavily mutated Omicron variant became known worldwide.

“Simply put, delaying the standard would likely cost many human lives per day, in addition to large numbers of hospital admissions, other serious health effects, and enormous costs of exercise.

According to legal experts, the case is likely to land in the Supreme Court.

Following the emergence of omicron, the White House urged companies to voluntarily proceed with the requirements while the legal battle continues in court to combat a winter spike in Covid.

Dozens of groups representing health professionals issued a joint statement last month calling on business to also implement the requirements. The coalition included the American Medical Association, the American College of Physicians, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Emergency Physicians, and the National League for Nursing.

The occupational safety and health agency that oversees occupational safety for the Department of Labor has issued the requirements according to the emergency agency established by Congress. OSHA can shorten the normal rulemaking process, which can take years, if the Secretary of Labor determines that a new safety standard is needed to protect workers from a serious hazard.

The White House has repeatedly said that Covid is clearly such a threat, highlighting the devastating death toll from the pandemic and the high rates of infection in counties across the United States

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https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/08/biden-vaccine-mandate-senate-votes-to-overturn-osha-rule.html